Dutch drone maker DeltaQuad says its latest Evo aircraft with a flight time of up to 2.5 hours is now integrated with a combined Yellowscan LiDAR and RGB system. As such, the fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone can offer colorized LiDAR mapping for up to 500 hectares in a single flight.
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Ohio-based drone data-collection company Event 38 has successfully contributed to another of its aerial challenge projects, this time deploying its UAVs to complete full maps of two Turks and Caicos islands in just two days.
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French advanced air mobility (AAM) startup Ascendance Flight Technology says it is revving up its push to finalize the prototype of its ATEA hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane, thanks to new investment of €21 million ($22.6 million).
Toulouse-based Ascendance said it had raised the new financing from existing backers and several new investors including Bpifrance, a public-private fund that supports France’s most promising tech startups. Ascendance said the infusion will be used to finish the full-scale prototype of its ATEA VTOL, and begin test flights to prepare for certification and eventual large-scale production of the AAM plane.
The company says it has already signed 245 memos of understanding with customers keen on buying the aircraft.
Last October, Ascendance signed an agreement with Air France-KLM maintenance, repair, and operations unit AFI KLM E&M, making the Franco-Dutch airline group not only a potential buyer of ATEA VTOLs, but also a major industrial partner in servicing AAM craft.
Read more: AAM startup Ascendance links with Air France-KLM’s MRO unit
ATEA is designed to fly a maximum of 400 kilometers at 200 km/h, and boasts a quick 10-minute turnaround time. It is expected to take its first test flights this later year, before being featured in AAM demonstrations during the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.
Unlike most AAM craft developers, Ascendance has conceived the five-seat ATEA VTOL to operate using a hybrid propulsion system. That Sterna solution uses distributed electric motorization compatible with both tradition or sustainable fuels, including hydrogen cells.
The concept was created by Ascendance founders, who are veterans of Airbus’s E-Fan program that continues development of the aviation giant’s all-electric passenger plane. Aware of the limited capacities of current battery technologies, however, they devised Sterna to use combustible materials or hydrogen cells to drive generators that create electric power the craft relies on.
Read: HevenDrones unveils its first of three hydrogen-powered drones planned for 2023
The new $22.6 million in funding to get an ATEA prototype aloft to enable testing and certification work follows an $11.7 million infusion Ascendance received in September of 2021.
Ascendance cofounder and CEO Jean-Christophe Lambert predicts the financing will prove essential to the company’s push to take its ATEA VTOL to market faster, and in so doing give France a prominent spot in the emerging AAM sector.
“This fundraising round is critical for sustainable aviation in France,” says Lambert. “It is a logical step forward in our roadmap for the industry’s energy transition. It will accelerate the technical and commercial development of our products while also contributing to our central aim: to build a sustainable model for cleaner air mobility.”
San Francisco Bay Area cargo UAV developer MightyFly has unveiled the second generation of its hybrid-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone, Cento, which it plans to produce and operate for end-to-end freight services on flights of up to 600 miles.
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European drone manufacturer FIXAR is joining forces with LiDAR solutions specialist YellowScan to equip the FIXAR 007 fixed-wing VTOL with YellowScan Mapper+ OEM LiDAR mapping solution.
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Ahead of the expected demand by operators of eVTOL aircraft, autonomous drone charging station hardware manufacturer Heisha has unveiled a new dock, V200, that can charge a vertical takeoff and landing drone in 120 minutes.
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Event 38, an Ohio-based drone manufacturer, has just announced its first VTOL drone called the E400. Built in the US, it is on a short list of fixed-wing VTOL drones made stateside.
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Autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone manufacturer Volansi has unveiled its new VOLY 50 series of UAVs designed for long-haul transport of flexible payloads.
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If imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery, developers at Wingtra will feel praised by the Thailand-produced Vetal, a similar-looking and -operating vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone hoping to give its Swiss predecessor some competition.
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With strict rules on drone operation now gradually relaxing in India, European UAV manufacturer Fixar has announced plans to begin marketing its craft in the giant south Asian market with local partner Paras Aerospace, focusing first on its flagship fixed-wing Fixar007.
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Personal flight is a fascinating concept. It has dominated comic books and pop culture for decades. And to replicate that flying feeling, people across the world have resorted to everything from skydiving and paragliding to, more recently, wingsuiting. Now, the spotlight is on jetpacks and manned drones, like CopterPack.
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Swiss Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) drone maker Wingtra and data visualization and analysis specialist Propeller Aero are teaming up to offer a precision 3D mapping and surveying platform for industrial clients.
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California-based Volansi continues its ascent as a global leader in autonomous drone deliveries with another in a series of important business development announcements.
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FIXAR, the Latvian manufacturer of an innovative fixed-wing VTOL drone, has struck an agreement with Canada’s largest drone solution companies. Volatus Aerospace, Inc. will build up to 1200 FIXAR drones annually at its Ontario facility.
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A Baltic drone manufacturer says its unique design gives it some key advantages over other drones in its class: The ability to fly further, while carrying more weight.
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Volansi, a US-based company that develops and deploys autonomous Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) drone systems, has some news: It has secured permission to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) in the western African nation of Senegal.
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Baltic drone manufacturer FIXAR offered a window into its product today, with a webinar featuring a real-time assembly and demonstration of its product.
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During General Motors’ (GM) CES 2021 keynote, it showed off a new series of concept products under the Cadillac brand. The concept is made up of a passenger VTOL drone and an autonomous car to get you and your friends to and from locations and drones.
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Transport Canada has accepted the documentation surrounding the Quantix Mapper Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft (VTOL). That means the aircraft can be used for Advanced Operations in Canada — which means using the drone in advanced airspace, flying it with less than 30 meters horizontal separation from bystanders, or flying over people.
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Volansi, Inc. today announced it has closed $50 million in a Series B round of funding. This follows a $25 million Series A from 2019. The new cash injection will help the company grow its staff, expand existing initiatives, and launch new projects.
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Chinese passenger drone company Autoflight recently unveiled its V400 Albatross cargo and passenger drone at the 2020 World UAV Conference in Shenzhen, China. The company also announced its product development road map.
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From Electrek:
The flying taxi company Kitty Hawk last night launched ‘Cora’, a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) personal airplane/helicopter drone hybrid that will carry a passenger. Kitty Hawk is funded by Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO-ed by Sebastian Thrun, the self-driving car pioneer who is the founding director of Google’s X lab.
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From Electrek:
Improvements in battery technology are quickly starting to enable manned electric flight, which some companies now want to combine with drones.
Audi and Airbus partnered with Italdesign to work together on a passenger drone/electric car hybrid concept.
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Over the last two days, photos and specs have been going around the internet of a supposedly new DJI fixed-wing VTOL drone. The information originated from two Twitter accounts, that in previous cases have provided very accurate information. This time, detailed photos of the drone showing DJI components and specs were released. All seemingly part of the new DJI fixed-wing VTOL drone. Today, however, we received a message from DJI today dispelling these rumors.
